Rahab and the Spies

A secret mission. Joshua “sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly” (2:1). Forty years before, Moses had sent out twelve spies, and ten of them came back afraid (Numbers 13). Joshua had been one of the two who trusted God. Rahab’s house. The spies “came to the house of a harlot named Rahab” (2:1). A harlot (the ICB says prostitute) was a woman who took money from men to do things God made only for marriage. The Bible says it plainly. Rahab was a sinner, and everyone in Jericho knew it. God knew her. Out of a whole city, God led the spies to the one house where someone was ready to trust Him. Jesus said He came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). God was seeking Rahab. Brave, but not perfect. Rahab hid the men “with the stalks of flax” on her roof (2:6). That was brave. But she told the king’s men, “I did not know where they were from” (2:4), and that was not true. God’s law says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). Hebrews praises Rahab for her faith, not for her lie (Hebrews 11:31). Taking a side. When Rahab hid the spies, she was choosing the Lord and His people over her own king. That was a dangerous choice. What this means for you. Nobody is too far gone for God to find. He knows your name, and He comes looking for you.

Two men, not twelve (2:1). Forty years earlier twelve spies went out, and ten came back saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we” (Numbers 13:31). Joshua was one of the two who trusted God. Now he sent just two men “to spy secretly,” men who would bring back the truth. The house of a harlot (2:1). Scripture calls Rahab a harlot here, in Joshua 6:25, in Hebrews 11:31 and in James 2:25. A harlot, or prostitute, sold herself to men, a sin against God’s design for marriage. God never hides Rahab’s past, and He never lets it be the last word about her. Providence. Providence means God guiding ordinary events to carry out His plan. The spies seemed simply to find a place to stay, yet that house held the one person in Jericho whose heart was turning to the Lord. The lie (2:4-5). Rahab told the king’s men the spies had gone and urged them, “Pursue them quickly.” Was that right? God commands, “Putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor’” (Ephesians 4:25). God honored Rahab’s faith in Him and her protection of His messengers, not her deception. Hebrews 11:31 praises her for receiving the spies “with peace.” Flax on the roof (2:6). Flax was grown for linen. After harvest the stalks were spread out to dry on flat roofs, which made a perfect hiding place. A turned loyalty. Hiding the spies was treason against the king of Jericho. Rahab had already decided whose side she was on. Why it matters. God moved His plan forward through a sinful woman in a city under judgment. He delights to save people others would give up on.

Jericho was a big city with strong walls. Lots of people lived there, but they did not know God. Of all the houses, the spies came to Rahab’s house. God was leading them. God knew all about Rahab. He knew she had lived a sinful life. He also knew her heart was turning toward Him. God goes looking for people who are far away from Him. Rahab hid the spies on her roof. That took real courage. But she also told the king’s men something untrue. God never says that lying is good. The Bible praises Rahab for her faith, not for her lie. God was already at work in her heart.

God sent the spies to Rahab. Rahab had lived a sinful life. God loved her anyway. She hid the spies to keep them safe.

On the roof at night. Before the spies went to sleep, Rahab came up to them on the roof (2:8). She had something important to say. “I know.” Rahab began, “I know that the Lord has given you the land” (2:9). She did not just hope it might be true. She was sure. What she heard. “For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt” (2:10). That had happened forty years before, and Jericho was still talking about it. They had also heard about Sihon and Og, two Amorite kings Israel defeated (Numbers 21). Melting hearts. “And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted” (2:11). The whole city heard the news and was terrified. Fear or faith. The same news made Jericho shut its gate, but it made Rahab open her door. She said, “For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (2:11). That is faith. Faith comes by hearing. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). What this means for you. You have heard about the greatest thing God ever did: Jesus died for our sins and rose again. You can do what Rahab did and trust the Lord.

“I know” (2:9). Rahab’s first words are certain. She knew the Lord had given Israel the land before a single wall had fallen. The Lord (2:9). Rahab used God’s personal name, YHWH (say: yah-WEH), the name He revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14-15). A Canaanite woman called on Israel’s God by His covenant name. News that traveled (2:10). The Red Sea had parted forty years earlier (Exodus 14), and the victories over Sihon and Og were recent (Numbers 21:21-35). Moses had told God the nations would hear: “They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land” (Numbers 14:14). Hearts melted (2:9-11). Rahab said the people were “fainthearted” and their hearts “melted.” Israel had sung this at the Red Sea: “All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away” (Exodus 15:15). God’s word came true in Jericho. A confession of faith (2:11). Rahab’s words are close to what Moses taught Israel in Deuteronomy 4:39: the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath, and there is no other. A Canaanite woman confessed the truth Israel had been given. Same news, two answers. Jericho heard and hardened. Rahab heard and believed. Hebrews says Israel’s first generation heard good news too, “but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith” (Hebrews 4:2). Why it matters. Faith is not a feeling you work up. It is trusting what God has said and done. Today the news is the death and resurrection of Jesus, and it still calls for an answer.

Everyone in Jericho heard the same news. God had dried up the Red Sea for His people. God had helped Israel beat two strong kings. The people of Jericho were full of fear. Their hearts melted, and nobody felt brave. But Rahab did more than shake with fear. She believed! She said the Lord rules the heavens and the earth. Jericho had false gods made by people. Rahab knew those gods were not real. Only the Lord is the true God. Faith starts when we hear about God and trust Him. You have heard about Jesus. You can trust Him too.

Rahab heard what God had done. God dried up the Red Sea! Rahab believed the Lord is the true God.

Swear by the Lord. Rahab said, “Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord” (2:12). She wanted a promise made in the name of the God she now trusted. Kindness for kindness. “Since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house” (2:12). The word for kindness here means loyal love, the kind that keeps its promises. A true token. She asked them to “give me a true token” (2:12). A token is a sign or proof. Soon the scarlet cord would be that sign. Her whole family. “Spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” (2:13). Rahab knew God was going to judge Jericho. She wanted everyone she loved to be saved. Our lives for yours. The spies answered, “Our lives for yours” (2:14). They promised to “deal kindly and truly” with her. They put their own lives on the line. God’s kindness. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). God was being kind to Rahab before she ever asked. What this means for you. Like Rahab, you can pray for your family and friends to be saved. God loves to answer that prayer.

Chesed (2:12). Rahab’s word for kindness is chesed (say: KHEH-sed), loyal love that keeps covenant. It is the word the Old Testament uses again and again for God’s own faithful love. A Canaanite woman appealed to it, and the spies answered that they would deal “kindly and truly” (2:14), the same pair of words God used of Himself in Exodus 34:6. Sworn by the Lord (2:12). An oath in the Lord’s name made God Himself the witness. Rahab trusted the spies because she trusted the God they served. A true token (2:12). She wanted more than words; she wanted a sign she could keep and see. The scarlet cord became that sign (2:18). Deliver our lives from death (2:13). Rahab understood that Jericho was under God’s judgment. Centuries before, God told Abraham that Israel would return to the land later, “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:16). God had waited four hundred years. Now the time had come, and Rahab asked for mercy. Our lives for yours (2:14). The spies pledged their own lives as the guarantee for hers. They took the risk on themselves. A condition (2:14). The promise held “if none of you tell this business of ours.” Mercy was offered freely, but it had to be received on the terms given. Why it matters. God’s judgment on sin is real, and so is His mercy to anyone who asks. Jesus promised, “The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).

Rahab did not only think about herself. She loved her family very much. She asked the spies to save her father and mother. Her brothers and sisters mattered to her too. The spies made a serious promise. They said, “We will trade our lives for your lives.” A promise made before the Lord is very important. Rahab trusted the spies because she trusted their God. God is kind, and He keeps His word. He is kind to us even when we do not deserve it. You can pray for your family to know Jesus. God loves to answer that prayer.

Rahab loved her family. She asked the spies to save them. The spies promised. God cares about whole families!

Down the wall. “Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall” (2:15). Wise advice. Rahab told them, “Get to the mountain… Hide there three days” (2:16). She knew the king’s men were searching down by the river. The scarlet cord. The spies said she must “bind this line of scarlet cord in the window” (2:18). Scarlet is a deep red. The cord would show Israel which house to spare. Safe inside. Her family had to gather in her house. Anyone who went “outside the doors of your house into the street” would not be protected (2:19). Safety was found only inside. Right away. “Then she said, ‘According to your words, so be it.’ And she sent them away… And she bound the scarlet cord in the window” (2:21). She did not wait for the army to come. Real faith acts. Good news for Joshua. The spies came back and said, “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands” (2:24). A picture of Jesus. Many Christians see the scarlet cord as a picture of the blood of Jesus. On the night of the first Passover, God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus 12:13). What this means for you. Rahab trusted the sign she was given. You can trust Jesus, who gave His life for you.

On the wall (2:15). Rahab “dwelt on the wall.” Her window opened on the outside of the city, so the spies could get away without passing the gate. Three days (2:16, 22). She sent them into the hills, away from the fords of the Jordan where the pursuers were searching (2:7). The plan worked: the pursuers “sought them all along the way, but did not find them” (2:22). Tiqvah (2:18). The word for line is tiqvah (say: teek-VAH). Almost everywhere else in the Old Testament the same word means hope, as in “a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). That cord was Rahab’s only hope. Inside or outside (2:19). The oath covered everyone “with you in the house” and no one who went out into the street. At the first Passover God gave the same kind of command: “None of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning” (Exodus 12:22). Faith that acts (2:21). Rahab tied the cord at once, though the army was still days away. James says she was “justified by works” when she received the messengers (James 2:25). Her actions showed that her faith was real. A report of faith (2:24). Forty years before, ten spies came back afraid. These two said, “Truly the Lord has delivered all the land into our hands.” They spoke Rahab’s own words back to Joshua: all the land was fainthearted. The cord and the cross. Many Christians see the scarlet cord as a picture of the blood of Christ, the one sign that marks the people God saves. We were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Why it matters. Rahab was safe because she stayed where the sign was. We are safe when we stay in Christ.

Rahab helped the spies climb down the city wall. Then the spies gave her a sign to use. She must tie a red rope in her window. Everyone inside her house would be safe. Anyone who went outside would not be safe. Rahab did not wait. She tied the red rope in the window right away. That showed she really believed. The spies went back and told Joshua good news. God had already given them the land. Many Christians think of Jesus when they see the red rope. Jesus shed His blood on the cross to save us. Everyone who trusts Him is safe with God.

Rahab tied a red rope in her window. Everyone inside would be safe. Jesus keeps us safe too.

Rahab and the Spies

🎉 All words found!